Luogo e data di registrazione		- 6 Ottobre 1970 (*) - 25 Agosto 1972 (**) - 23 Agosto 1972 (***) - 6 Aprile 1971 (°) - 5 Aprile 1971 (°°)
	Registrazione: live / studio		studio
	Producer / Recording Supervisor		Wolf Erichson
	Recording Engineer		Dieter Thomsen
	Prima Edizione LP		Seon (Philips) | 6775 006 | 2 LPs - durata 44' 09" - 48' 34" | (p) 1973 | ANA Seon (RCA Red Seal) | RL 30381 | 2 LPs - durata 44' 09" - 48' 34" | (p) 1980 | ANA
	Edizione CD		Sony | SB2K 60364 | 2 CDs - durata 44' 09" - 48' 34" | (c) 1998 | ADD
	Original Cover		-
	Note		-

These two discs contain recordings of early small organs from the Alpine countries, covering the period from the sixteenth century to the end of the eighteenth. None has more than one manual and all have so-called "short octaves" in the bass, that is to say a diatonic scale from C without the semitones C sharp, D sharp, F sharp. and G sharp; some are also tuned by archaic mean-tone or unequal temperament. The sound-world of the Italian organ school brings a strong southern influence to the design of these instruments and they are displayed here in a repertoire which is appropriate to the time of their construction and which for the most part also bears a southern stamp, like all art in the South German area. Whether these instruments belong to the Renaissance (Churburg) or the end of the Rococo era (Compatsch), whether they stand in castles, abbeys, or village churches, the essential elements in the building of the "king of instruments" have been observed over the centuries: clear overall construction. in casings designed for clarity of sound, together with fine pipe-work, wind chests, and mcchantcal action. Each of these little "princesses" has a visual appearance in complete accord with its tonal effect. CHURHURG The organ in Churburg Castle which belongs to the Trapp family and is situated in Sluderno in the Val Venosta, South Tyrol, Italy, was built in 1559 by Michael Strobl for Ritter Jakob Trapp, according to the frieze running round the casing. Since then it has always remained in Churburg Castle. It was hidden for safety in the First World War but cutting off the air resulted in cracks in the glued joints. At first only the casing was repaired. but in 1969 the instrument was conscientiously restored by the organ-builder Jürgen Ahrend of Leer in Ostfriesland. Under the elaborato canopy are nine ranks of pipes divided into bass and treble, standing on a wind chest with ventils going up at an angle. They are operated from an ivory keyboard which has the wide spacing typical of the Renaissance and can be shifted upwards by a whole tone. This alters the meaning of the notes on the keyboard and, by thus moving towards the flat keys, extends the range of keys permitted by mean-tone temperament. Air is supplied by two sets of bellows with seven folds, weighted with lead and decorated with the inlaid arms of the Trapp-Tannberg family. All the pipes are made of tin. An organ-building curiosity is the little 2' Copula stop, built entirely as a Rohr Flute. which has its covers soldered on and, like all the other pipes, has nu bevels on the lips. The draw-stops are arranged at the side of the sub-structure and marked with the first letter of their names. The stops F = filomela (nightingale), a trill-pipe in water-containers, and G = Gezwitscher (twittering), a pipe pruducing a whirring triad, give an unusual finishing touch to the instrument's wide range of colour and pitch, stretching from 8' to an upper limit of 1/16'. The sound emerges from the canopy through gilt lattice-work panels underlaid with velvet. This Renaissance organ is one of the most precious instruments in the world. Bibliography: Dr. Oswald Graf Trapp: "Ritter Jacob Trapp auf Churhurg" in “Schlernschriften 127," Innsbruck. 1954. A detailed description and documentation of the restoration is in preparation for the periodical "L'Organo," published by Patron, Bologna. COMPATSCH Willi Lippuner's catalogue of the organs of the Grisons (1968) represents the present state of knowledge concerning the organ in the parish church of St. James, Compatsch, a mountain village in the Samnaun valley, Grisons, Switzerland, and is in accord with oral tradition in suggesting that it was bought cheaply from the Val Venosta. It stands in the choir, but, like so many old organs from this region which have undergone transportation, it has obviously been altersd from its original condition. It shows Italian influence and is notable for its beautiful sound, a semitone higher than is normal nowadays. MURI (AARGAU) The magnificent Baroque monastery church in the former Benedictine abbey at Muri, Aargau, Switzerland, has three important old organs, the smallest of which. the Gospel organ, has been preserved in its original condition with its historic unequal temperament. It was built in 1743-44 by the celebrated Swiss organ-builders, father and son Joseph and Victor Ferdinand Bossard and in spite of its small number of stops possesses an nttractively colourful sound, due to a judicious arrangement of the Principal Choir as a Ripieno, together with the Sexquialtera and some extremely beautiful flute-tunes. The organ was unplayable for many years but was cerefully restored to its orignal condition in 1961-62 by Metzler and Sons. who were responsible for the organ-buìlding, and Josef Brühlmann, who looked after the beautiful casing. It is a fine example of a complete work of art in instrument construction, in which acoustic effect and colourful visual appearance are interrelated in harmonious accord. Bibliography: "Die Orgeln der Klosterkirche Muri." Published by the Katholische Kirchenpflege Murl AG. Muri, 1970. WILTEN The choir organ in the Premonstratensian abbey at Wilten in Innsbruck was built by an as yet unidentified master around the middle of the seventeenth century. It is a curiosity in that it was built on the transmission system, producing nine stops from only three ranks of pipes. The three basic ranks for Principal, Octave, and Quint each have a range of six octaves; in the case of the Octave a pipe-lenght of 1/8' represents in the highest pitch, or 1/12' in the case of the Quint, at which point the pitch is repeated for one octave. The lowest octaves of the Principal and the Sub-bass consist of covered wooden pipes, while from a lenght of 4' there are only open wooden pipes, the first 29 of which form the screen. Thus the organ has in its most important tonal area the pure Principal sound of the Italian Ripieno. The bottom octaves of both manual and pedals are short. The organ is tuned in mean-tone temperament and is about a semitone above the present norm. WILHERING The choir organ in the Cistercian abbey at Wilhering near Linz is the most typical example of the Austrian "chancel organ," built as a matching counterpart to the chancel and fully integrated into the overall design of the richly-decorated Rococo chamber. It was constructed in 1746 by Nikolaus Rummel the Elder and possesses an exquisite beauty of tone and an unusual richness of colouring in spite of having only six manual stops and two in the pedal. The mixture with its multiple registers includes a Choir of thirds and its use in church services was at one time restricted by regulation to a "last resort" for high feast-days. STAMS The choir organ in the Cistercian abbey at Stams, in the Tyrol, is a good example of an organ built as an integral part of the elaborate rococo choir stalls. It was constructed in 1757 under Abbot Roger Sailer by an as yet unknown master. As a Rococo organ it includes in its registration not only a Principal Choir which is complete in the upper reaches, together with a mellow Flute Choir, but also Rococo string tones such as Gamba and Viola. Its 12 stops give it a comparatively large registration for its type, though it occupies only a small area. The wind-chest stands on the floor and the screen formed by some of the Principal and Octave pipes may be shut off by a folding door. The organ was badly damaged in the Second World War but restored without alteration in 1951-52 by Johann Pirchner of Steinach, Tyrol Egon Krauss